Here are some of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's ideas he shared on the TV show "Star Talk", and some
reactions to some of those ideas.
Would it really be beneficial for women in general to try to eliminate
the gender biases and prejudices and emotions that influence men's and women's relationships, relationships ranging from simple conversations
to heated sexual encounters? Would it really be a good idea to eliminate the mystique man attributes to the female species, to treat
her just like "another guy"? And might that goal, if realized, adversely influence the continuation of the species, as if men just
loved men and women just loved ladies? Do women not enjoy at least some of the attention and attitudes towards them that are based
solely on their differences, and if removed, would be regretted? Some men would say, "Without the mystique of women, what's left?"
What about geographical, racial and nationality prejudices and biases? Don't these differences in people
result in valuable contributions to society? Do we want a world where no one is seen as being any different from anyone else, and
everyone is expected to talk alike, act alike, be alike?
Are we headed to a "no more awe" status in our everyday
lives. We were awed by the first man on the moon, the first airplane flight, the first automobile, the first computer and I-phone,
and countless other scientific and social firsts. Will new inventions, and communication devices, and trips into outer space and whatever
else is to come, which can only be imagined, will these bring a future of "so what", "been there, done that" for each new device or
technology? Someone said that the computer was the greatest danger to civilization yet, even worse than the atomic bomb. Could that
be true?
A while back, one of the astronauts, gliding through the space above the Earth, looked out a portal
into the vast emptiness of space and saw our tiny sphere, rotating in its orbit, its blue surface highlighted by the Sun's glow. He
had an epiphany. He thought, for a moment, such a tiny dot in the infinity of space was the Earth from above. It was where all of
his friends and family, his hopes and dreams were, that blip in the night sky. And for a moment he wondered, with all the strife going
on down there, and the disinterested care the inhabitants show to the planet, maybe, he wondered, if he was in Heaven. But he looked
again and thought, but I came from down there, and I will go back there, so maybe Earth is Heaven. Maybe that's all there is for Mankind.
The astronaut wiped some tears from his cheek, and hoped that he was wrong.